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evanikolaidou's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
hanaqasrawi's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
maryl_harris's review against another edition
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
unavittoria's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
mer3bear's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
So I actually enjoyed Either/Or a lot more than The Idiot . Elif Batuman makes me so sick because Selin (her self insert) is so relatable and expresses her thoughts about how the world is a “soul crushing sex conspiracy” that she’ll never be able to fit in with and it’s eating her alive and she wants to die and also has a lot of complicated thoughts on feminism and being a girl and other isolating feelings that I really connected with. BUT at the same time Selin is SO insufferable at so many different points and can be a bit insane. But I also think both of these books read a lot better if you perceive it as the author self reflecting and writing from the pov of a flawed younger self and you don’t need to force yourself to like everything she does (crazy self destruction). I know Elif Batuman didn’t read the essay about lesbians and compulsory heterosexuality until AFTER the idiot came out and I think whatever realizations she came to helped add so much self awareness (from the author, not the character) to either/or that ultimately made it more enjoyable. the character ivan sucks ass so bad and i like that in this one there’s more deconstruction of what’s going on with that. It pains me to see how much compulsory heterosexuality Selin deals with and where it takes her. Ultimately it’s a lot of asking “is this what i want? or is this what im supposed to want? do i like this person or do i like the way this person makes me feel?” but in a super geeky literature-nerd way. Some tangents about all the russian lit she’s reading kind of lost me but i thought the whole thing was really well written and touched me. I absolutely LOVE the dry way batuman writes.